Seattle Seahawks: Q1 Overreaction...True or False?

The Seattle Seahawks are 2-2, and through four games this season, we've seen quite a lot...some good, some bad, and some ugly.

This is a team that, with a few bounces in either direction, could either be 4-0 or 0-4, so while there is some sense of panic spreading across the Pacific Northwest given the team's .500 record, I figured it might be entertaining to take a few overreactions and try to find some answers.

Russell Wilson Is the Future

Actually, though, this is a tricky statement, and one that gets more and more challenging to answer each week.

Since training camp, Wilson has been the future, but then all of the sudden, he made a strong case for the present throughout the preseason with one dynamic performance after another.

Yet once the regular season rolled around, Wilson seemed to downshift into an unrecognizable figure that Pete Carroll preferred to keep under control.

I understand on some level where Pete Carroll is coming from by trying to ease Wilson into the scheme of things, but with an upcoming tough stretch of games against some high-scoring opponents, can the 'Hawks really continue to employ this strategy?

If it didn't work against the Rams, I have doubts it will have much effect against the 49ers or Patriots.

I still think Wilson gets at least two more weeks, as he really hasn't embarrassed himself through four games, but he needs to win a game or two against either Carolina on the road next week or against New England at home the following week.

Let's face it though, does Wilson have a supporting cast capable of helping him?

Golden Tate Is a Dirty Player

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False

Ah Golden Tate...

A few weeks ago, I wrote about his block against Sean Lee of the Dallas Cowboys, coming out on the side of wanting to see him fined, but more importantly, not wanting to to see him get hurt on the play, either.

Right or wrong, Tate got himself a good deal of attention for the hit, but nothing could prepare him for what happened the next week against the Packers on Monday Night Football.

His now infamous "touchdown" probably served as the final straw for the replacement referees, yet Tate ultimately took the fall with the refs in the process.

Week 4 against the Rams, the team rushed for 179 yards for an average of 5.3 yards per carry on the day.

What gives?

Blend in inexplicable drive-killing penalties, uneven results in pass protection, and you've got a group of players that leave much to be desired on a weekly basis and that simply can't be relied upon to deliver.

If they can limit their mistakes both mental and physical while playing with authority, the 'Hawks can run with anyone, but if they can't buy Wilson enough time to work, it's going to be a problem.

The Defense Is Unreal

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False

Understand this is a very, very good group, but I think they can do even more.

The unit that bends but doesn't break has only surrendered 58 points this season through four games, which ranks them second only behind the Houston Texans, yet I'm not content with this being the ceiling for them.

So far, the pass rush has improved, the run defense is consistent, the linebacking corps looks better than anticipated and the secondary remains solid, but something is missing.

With the offense struggling, this group is all but forced not only to stop opposing offenses, but also to punish them, win the battle for field position and generate turnovers.

"Poor defense on 3rd-and-long became a surprising problem. The Rams converted only 5 of 13 third downs, but for the Seahawks, it seemed worse than that. Maybe it's because all five of those conversions came on plays of 3rd-and-10 or longer. In this tight game, the defense's inability to get off the field in those advantageous situations was a huge problem. It took away from a performance that looks good on paper. The Seahawks have been much better, however. If they want to be a great defense, they can't tolerate those kinds of mistakes."

In some ways, it's nitpicking, but great teams finish on both ends of the field—right now the 'Hawks need the defense to play just like the Mariners need Felix Hernandez to pitch: perfectly.

Controversy Will Hurt This Team down the Road

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TBD

Honestly, you would have thought the universal outcry following the Monday Night Football game against the Packers would usher the end of the world, but instead, it simply sped up the negotiations between the league and the real referees.

At the same time, the 'Hawks really couldn't afford to lose on Sunday in St. Louis, yet still fell into a trap.

Making this loss all the more frustrating is how the 'Hawks managed to run the ball effectively, play good defense, and still look utterly lost/ineffective for the last three quarters of the game.

Let's face it, the Rams deserved to win, but it was a game the 'Hawks should not have lost.

No, oddly enough, what helps at a time like this is how well Pete Carroll as a politician can say so much without saying much of anything. I'll confess that my "love" for Pete Carroll can be fickle at times, but having him as the frontman works in helping deflect questions and dealing with brewing issues.

Will there be a quarterback issue in the next few weeks?

Hasn't there always been? Won't there always be?

Having Carroll field these questions prevents putting the players in awkward positions and simply let's them play the game. Sure, someone might provide an interesting sound bite on occasion, but what Pete says is the bottom line.

Besides, we live in a day and age where there is so much information out there that more often than not we forget what we had for breakfast by lunch time.

In other words, the hype and the furor over what has transpired these past few weeks will quickly fade if the team starts to win again, especially if they can take down either the Patriots at home in Week 6 or the 49ers in San Francisco during the short turnaround in Week 7.

If not, it will be Pete's choice to bench Russell Wilson, simply because it's easier to swap him for Matt Flynn as a means of potentially changing the momentum while appeasing the masses rather than admit to the fact that the receiving corps is a mess and the pass protection on the offensive line is suspect.

Either way, the one thing you can bet on is seeing Marshawn Lynch get the ball 20-plus times a game, week in, week out. Let's just hope that Lynch holds up and that opponents don't catch on to that fact too easily in the weeks to come while the offense hopefully irons out its issues.